Big Brother: Summer 2012 Ratings (Wednesdays)

Published: September 20, 2012

CBS’ Big Brother is back — and so are four of the TV show’s most-popular players from years’ past. Will the ratings continue to be strong enough to keep the reality competition on the air for three nights a week?

Wednesday, 09/12/12
2.1 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 6.19 million.Season averages: 2.07 in the demo with 5.87 million.

Wednesday, 09/05/12
2.1 in the demo (-9% episode-to-episode change) with 6.09 million.Season averages: 2.06 in the demo with 5.83 million.

Wednesday, 08/29/12
2.3 in the demo (+10% episode-to-episode change) with 6.40 million.Season averages: 2.06 in the demo with 5.79 million.

Wednesday, 08/22/12
2.1 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 5.86 million.Season averages: 2.02 in the demo with 5.69 million.

Wednesday, 08/15/12
2.1 in the demo (+11% episode-to-episode change) with 5.96 million.Season averages: 2.00 in the demo with 5.66 million.

Wednesday, 08/08/12
1.9 in the demo (-5% episode-to-episode change) with 5.39 million.Season averages: 2.00 in the demo with 5.59 million.

Wednesday, 08/01/12
2.0 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 5.40 million.Season averages: 2.00 in the demo with 5.65 million.

Wednesday, 07/25/12
2.0 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 5.77 million.Season averages: 2.00 in the demo with 5.78 million.

Wednesday, 07/18/12
2.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 5.78 million total viewers.Season averages: 2.00 in the demo with 5.78 million.

Like the Thursday and Sunday editions, Big Brother’s Wednesday premiere was down year-to-year; down by 23% in the demo (vs. a 2.6 rating) and down by 21% in viewership (vs 7.31 million).

Reference point: Last summer, the Wednesday editions of Big Brother averaged a 2.8 demo rating with 7.59 million total viewers.

Note: These ratings are collected by the Nielsen company and are the final national numbers. These are different from the fast affiliate numbers which are just estimates of the actual ratings and are reported on by most other outlets. The final nationals are typically released within 24 hours of the programming or, in the case of weekends and holidays, a couple days later.

What do you think? Do you like the Big Brother TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for a 15th season?

This and one other one I didn’t watch much. A few years ago, they had a boring cast. This year repeats. I think last year too. FIND NEW POEPLE! Have at least 3-4 older then 40 to bring in us old farts in and then 1 or 2 older cast members wouldn’t get voted off sooner. Best show was the Tommy Lee look a like. Still don’t know what happened the next time he was on and had to leave.

With all of America to pick from, they keep coming back to a small core group to use in the house. Not only is it unfair play to others in the house, but its boring to watch…so I dont! Its really funny when there is a couple old people with bad habits and a couple young people , they should have a couple smokers, gamblers, someone who is OCD…You need to give them more booze and harder rules to live by. But above all, dont bring back the dead year after year….I’m sick of seeing thier faces and even some… Read more »

I don’t agree that Willie was bullied. Reality tv is always heavily edited and they only show you the scenes that will make for higher ratings. No matter what, Willie’s temper got the best of him and the rules clearly state, no aggressive physical interactions. The season may have been better if he’d stayed in the house, but he broke the rules.